Huixin Zhang, Xuesong Wang, Xiaomeng Wang, Yueng-hsiang Huang
Abstract: Amid the global trend toward flexible work, temporary employment in the trucking industry has increased, which poses traffic safety risks. This study examines how employment mode and law enforcement perception impact truck drivers' risky driving behaviours through the lens of safety climate and safety cognition. Using a questionnaire survey of 3655 Chinese truck drivers, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Bootstrap tests validated a multiple-chain mediation model. The results show that (1) stably employed drivers have better traffic safety climate and the highest safety cognition, while the temporarily employed drivers exhibit more risky behaviours. (2) The employment mode and law enforcement perception affect risky driving behaviour mainly through chain mediation. Temporary employment reduces safety climate and then safety cognition, while positive law enforcement perception enhances both to suppress risks. (3) Three cognition-behaviour models were identified, with high-level traffic safety climate and safety cognition offsetting temporary employment's negative effects. Theoretically, this study integrates structural (employment and management) and psychological (cognition and climate) factors, validating the “employment-regulation-cognition-behaviour” mechanism. It also informs targeted cognitive interventions for enterprises and differentiated law enforcement.
引用：Huixin Zhang, Xuesong Wang, Xiaomeng Wang, Yueng-hsiang Huang. The role of employment mode and law enforcement perception in risky behaviour among truck drivers. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2026, 121: 103713.